Chapter 460: Chapter-460
Servants began streaming out of the grand kitchens in an endless, dizzying parade, carrying massive silver platters loaded with exquisite roasted meats, exotic spiced fruits, and towering delicate pastries.
The old Marquis immediately fell into conversation with the surrounding generals, laughing boisterously as he tore into a massive piece of venison, completely ignoring the elaborate dancing in front of him.
Despite the looming threat of the poison plot, Heena decided it was time to actually enjoy herself. She leaned back in her chair, swirling the rich, stolen royal vintage in her glass, completely amused by the absurdity of her surroundings.
She was sitting smack in the middle of a literal jungle of muscle. Massive, burly, scarred generals were boisterously laughing and slamming their cups all around her. Across the grand hall, the traditional noblewomen were occasionally casting horrified, judgmental glances her way. In their narrow minds, a young lady sitting between a horde of rowdy military men was the height of public shame.
But Heena didn’t give a single damn about them. Those women possessed zero actual power in this empire; they were just background decorations, while she was sitting at the true table of authority.
Meanwhile, her grandfather was on an absolute roll, entirely incapable of stopping his boastful remarks.
"Oh, yeah! My granddaughter is an absolute genius!" the old Marquis declared loudly to the surrounding table, slamming his fist down. "She was only ten years old when she completely mastered all her classical studies!"
Heena casually took a sip of her wine, keeping her face perfectly smooth while mentally lifting an eyebrow. ’’Ten?’’ she thought dryly. ’’I’m pretty sure Seera hadn’t even finished her basic logic tutorials by fourteen, but whatever grandfather says goes.’’ She wisely chose to keep her mouth shut and let the old man spin his tall tales.
On the elevated dais, the Emperor watched the old Marquis laughing so uproariously and finally spoke up, his voice rich with amusement. "Wow, old friend. I don’t think I have ever seen you laugh this much in my entire life."
The grandfather turned to face the sovereign, his posture dropping into a slightly more respectful angle, though the boastful grin never left his face. "Ah, Your Majesty! What can I say? Ever since my granddaughter returned to my side, I feel like the whole world is at peace. For a long time, I thought she only knew how to read and write poetry... but then I found out she is an absolute terror on the training field! I didn’t even have to teach her. She just knows how to fight beautifully. I suppose the genes... she clearly got them entirely from me!"
’"Cough, cough!"’
A sharp, warning cough suddenly echoed from the elite ladies’ section across the hall.
The old Marquis’s eyes bolted toward the sound, and his entire mountain-like frame visibly trembled. Sitting gracefully among the noblewomen was his wife—Heena’s lovely, beautiful grandmother—who was currently piercing her husband with a glare so terrifyingly cold it could have frozen the imperial fountain solid.
The legendary, invincible general instantly choked on his own words and hurriedly corrected himself. "I—I mean! She clearly got her brilliant talent from her grandmother! My lovely, magnificent wife!"
The Marquis immediately threw his wife a deeply pleasing, desperate look, his tough warlord persona melting into a pathetic, pleading puppy dog in a split second.
Seeing this hilarious dynamic, Heena couldn’t help but smile softly, nodding her head in silent agreement. ’’Yep, the rumors are true. Grandma is the real apex predator here.’’
The Emperor burst into a sudden, booming fit of laughter, thoroughly delighted by the display. "Hahaha! I have to say, Marquis, even at such an advanced age, the love between you two doesn’t seem to wither away in the slightest!"
One of the grandfather’s old wartime friends, General Ji, chuckled and spoke up, bowing respectfully toward the throne before turning a mocking eye to the Marquis. "Your Majesty, I must admit, it is deeply shocking to the rest of us as well. How can this old man be such an absolute nuisance to his poor wife, even in his silver years?"
The Emperor covered his mouth, laughing out loud at the blunt roast, while the old Marquis snapped his head around to glare at his old comrade.
"You’re just entirely jealous, General Ji!" the grandfather huffed, crossing his arms like a petulant child.
General Ji merely smirked, lifting his own wine cup toward him. "Well, at least I don’t get a public coughing fit from my wife just for breathing too loudly, old friend. What can I say? Some of us possess actual dignity."
The old Marquis shamelessly scoffed right back at General Ji, completely unbothered by the raillery. "You are just jealous, General Ji, because your own wife doesn’t give a single damn about you!"
A collective gasp rippled through the immediate tables. The nearby officers were completely stunned by his utter lack of filter in the middle of an imperial banquet. But the old man wasn’t even close to finished.
He proudly turned his gaze back toward the ladies’ section, locking eyes with his wife. His tough, weathered face softened into an expression of ridiculous, unadulterated devotion. "Every single day, the moment I wake up, I find myself falling in love with this magnificent woman even more and more."
Across the hall, the grandmother instantly covered one side of her face with her elegant silk sleeve, her shoulders tensing. She literally could not believe this damn man. Even after decades of marriage and climbing to the absolute peak of nobility, she still held a strict, old-school sense of propriety in her heart. ’’At least show some basic restraint in front of the Emperor!’’ she screamed internally.
She dropped her sleeve just enough to shoot him a blistering, localized death glare that promised severe physical retribution the moment they returned to the estate.
Receiving the silent threat, the legendary, invincible warlord immediately offered her a helpless, deeply apologetic smile, raising his hands slightly as if surrendering on the battlefield.
Heena watched the entire exchange, quietly swirling her wine with a look of pure, dark amusement. It was peak comedy. The rest of the capital was shaking in their boots over the "Crazy Couple’s" bloody reputation, but sitting here, she just got to witness a terrifying grandmaster of war get thoroughly house-trained by a single look from his wife.
"Your grandparents are truly... unique, Host," the System murmured in her mind, its digital screen flickering with a mix of awe and second-hand embarrassment.
’’They’re perfect,’’ Heena thought, a genuine, soft smile touching her lips before her eyes subtly flicked back toward the royal dais. ’’Now, let’s see if the other show is about to start.’’
The music shifted, a resonant chord striking from the traditional stringed instruments, and the dancers moved as one. Heena leaned back, her focus drawing away from the royal dais for a moment as she genuinely took in the performance unfolding in the center of the Grand Mirror Hall.
She had to admit, watching this live was something else entirely. In the modern era, people were used to dancing to pre-recorded tracks, where everything was engineered to a fixed second.
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